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Ork/Orkin corrections: * This is technically true, but a gross oversimplification. Orks (and their not-entirely-Orkish family known as Orkkin) do live in roaming hunter-gatherer societies, and they do occasionally raid their neighbors in times of desperation, but their Xenophobic tendancies are not originating in a feeling of superiority, but more out of concern for the safety of their families. ** On the topic of Orkin, a great many Orkin would only be distinguishable to their full-blooded relatives by extremely close examination. This makes it difficult for outsiders to distinguish them among an Orkish tribe and tends to leave them with the mistaken impression that their tribes are relatively sparse in genetic variation, when the exact opposite is true. ** It’s due to this extremely varied gene pool, in fact, that Orks are quite resistant to non-magical diseases. With a diverse gene pool, an Ork’s immune system is well suited with genes coding the defense of a great many diseases. * While not untrue, this is similarly a view from the outside. Orks and their kin are an emotional people. So, an Ork’s rage is legendary, but as should be their feelings of grief at a loss of a loved one, or their joy when contributing to their community. Their defining emotion is not rage, but love. They care deeply and instinctively for members of their community, and often fear for their happiness and security. * Settling in Orkish lands is not inherently dangerous. Yes, you may be raided by a starving Orkish community, but they generally won’t go out of their way to attack you. The difficulty comes when your community gets so big or so well equipped to be viewed as a potential threat to the Orkish community. At this point, Orks tend to raid and attack simply to limit the potential threat of the community, in an attempt to drive off or kill the danger. * This is kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you come into an Orkish territory armed, you’re likely to be seen as a potential threat to the community, and attacked. If you come into Orkish territory unarmed, you are likely to be avoided and not even see them. So it is that, in attempts to make communities more safe against Orkish attack that they actually attract their wrath. * This is actually a tactic often used by Orks. Ultimately, their goal is preservation of the community. By this logic, raising the fear of intruders is just as effective (if not more so) than outright killing them. So, before an attack, Orks will often give one last warning before their attack. They don’t need to do this, but if they can instill fear in an enemy, the enemy can flee and leave them alone. So, they often have a pre-assault ritual wherein they create as much noise as possible and magnify their apparent numbers to preemptively weaken their opponents’ wills. ** The following is typically how an Orkish assault goes (when they’re trying to drive folks away from their lands) *** Scouts (typically Orkkin who have less exaggerated features than their cousins) will assess the numbers and type of enemy they’re facing. *** A fOrke big enough to scare the hell out of their enemies slowly trickles in (oftentimes, Orks will stage stealthy retreats and loud advances to make it appear as though endless waves of them are approaching) *** The ritual of the berserker is observed, wherein, in a thunderous display, the Orks will praise their chief-god, and, in doing so, further attempt to frighten their targets. **** During this ritual, the Berserkers (those with thick skin and immense fortitude) will take mixtures of various herbs and drugs while calling out to their chief-god to steel their nerves and their bodies against the coming battle. **** This class of fighters are widely respected among their culture, as they are first in a fight, working to soften and instill greater fear in their enemy before the rest of their fOrkes arrive, potentially saving lives. *** Berserkers attack with reckless abandon, attempting to convince the enemies that the majority of the fOrke are this shockingly vicious. **** In many cases, the threat is either dead or fleeing at this point, and the rest of the attack fOrke can go home. *** As the defending fOrke is softened and focused on the berserkers, the primary fOrke moves in to absorb the no doubt heavily injured berserkers into the main fOrke, and the assault begins in earnest. *** Retreat is uncommon, but not unheard of by a heavily outmatched Orkish fighting fOrke. * There are Orkish tribes that do take slaves to supplement the numbers lost in the attack. More common, though, are those captives taken through the Orks’ empathy. When a community refuses to flee, any potential threats are slaughtered, but what of those who aren’t realistically threats? They would not let an opponent’s children starve and die without their foolish parents, so instead, they bring them into their communities. Additionally, once other races learn of the true ways of the Orks, there are sometimes those who willingly join the tribe. ** In either case, these other races find themselves immersed in a community that quickly grows to love them with an intensity and protectiveness that is quite difficult to quantify. Many never leave, instead joining this tribe for the rest of their lives. * This is blatantly racist. Orkkin are extremely common within tribes, due to their deep and abiding love for their tribemates, and sometimes make up an even greater portion of the community than full-blooded Orks. Even the other races’ perception of “half-Orks” is flawed. Orkish traits commonly appear for several generations after the last Orkish ancestor, so an Orkkin could have their latest Orkish ancestry three or four generations prior, but still visibly show the telltale signs of Orkish heritage. * Partially true. There are actually two distinct religious groups that compete for power within Orkish tribes. Despite having near antithetical perspectives, these two persist with mutual respect, largely due to longstanding tradition and precedent. ** One of these groups, The Greens, worships the spirits of nature: the Bear, Eagle, and Serpent. When tribes are dominated by Greens, they tend to be less proactively aggressive, and mostly defensive. ** The other, The Grays, worship the monster gods of the buried one, and follow their father’s call to consume the humanoid races in fire and fang. When the Grays hold power, humanoids had better beware the tribe, for they can be easily swayed into carnage. ** Greens tend to have more political power than Grays, especially in times of peace. However, in times of desperation, (especially when humanoids encroach on Orkish territory, possessions, or (critically) people) Grays are known to grow in power.